Cosplay has become a mainstay of every comic con and pop culture convention. What sets Creation's official Star Trek convention (which just wrapped up in Las Vegas) apart is that everyone there has a common love. Whereas every other convention draws a wildly diverse crowd of fans, Star Trek Las Vegas is much more niche and draws a more or less single type of fan. But that doesn't mean the costumes are dull — Trekkers know how to cosplay with the best of them.

This year's convention showcased the sheer size of the Star Trek universe, with cosplay from every corner of the franchise, on every media platform imaginable. The TV series were best represented, of course, with each run, from the original series through The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and Discovery, well represented. Fans also plumbed the reboot film trilogy for their costumes, and eagle-eyed Trekkers will have noticed the cosplay based on books, video games, and other media.

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More important than the diversity of media inspiration was the diversity of the fans on the floor. Star Trek is a fandom that is unlike any other in its inclusivity. Fans have fully embraced the core messages of the franchise, which are perfectly summed up in the Vulcan idea of IDIC: infinite diversity in infinite combinations. Just as the shows and films have portrayed a future that has a place for everyone, its fans have also made the fandom a family. It's a place where everyone has a home.

The labels we place on ourselves and the divisions we put between us melt away in the Trek fandom. Arbitrary distinctions such as age, race, class, nationality, gender, religion, and sexual orientation make no difference in the 23rd and 24th centuries of Star Trek. And they, likewise, make very little difference to 21st-century fans.